I love the premise and the cover of You Lucky Dog by Julia London. Both are so darn cute! The book is a little bit romantic comedy, a little family drama, and the third-person narrative makes for unique romance fiction.

The main characters, Carly and Max, have a few things in common. They both own basset hounds. They both have difficult family situations. Lastly, they have the same dog walker, who has difficulty staying out of trouble with the law. It’s not hard to see where this is going! The basset hounds get mixed up and returned to the wrong owners, and the fun ensues as owners and dogs deal with the mix up amidst their usual life chaos.

I liked Max, and his devotion to his family is admirable. His struggle to balance his family’s needs and his attempt to secure tenure as a neuroscience professor is stressful. Carly is a publicist with big dreams and too-few clients. Her financial issues and difficult parents are not quite as compelling a story to follow. While I found Max and Carly’s romance and banter to be cute, I didn’t feel much chemistry between these very different people. I did not care for the use of third-person POV in the telling of this story. However, I loved, loved, loved Baxter and Hazel, the mixed up basset hounds; they were the stars of the tale.

This book can easily be turned into a super cute romantic comedy movie. Such a delight to read! What are the odds that two people can meet when their dogs were returned to the wrong homes after their dog walker was arrested for drugs?? Only Julia London can come up with this outlandishly fun premise for a story. Once again I am smiling from ear to ear. Thanks to the author and Netgalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Aʟʟ ᴅᴏɢs ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇʀᴀᴘʏ ᴅᴏɢs; ᴍᴏsᴛ ᴀʀᴇ ᴊᴜsᴛ ғʀᴇᴇʟᴀɴᴄɪɴɢ.

This one...I loved it. 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗗. 𝗜𝗧. The three main reasons were obviously Hazel, Baxter, and Jamie.

Carly and Max have best meet-cute: the dog walker mixed up their pups, how funny right?! (Then he went to jail because dog walking was a cover up for drug dealing, less funny I suppose.) Max has a profoundly autistic brother, Jamie, who is written and portrayed pretty accurately IMO. Carly has a crazy family with a loony mother and self-absorbed sister. There is not one thing about this book I can complain about. Cute, heartwarming, funny, with a happy ending. I am honestly so glad I got to read this! 🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴 5/5! Thank you to @berkleypub for my gifted e-arc 😊 look for this one Tuesday 8/25, you won't be sorry!

Dog lovers, rejoice! This book involves two adorable basset hounds and their owners falling in love.

I didn't love this one. it seemed to fall a little flat for me. I loved the aspects of the dogs bringing them together but this one just wasn't for me. I would definitely recommend this book to other romance readers.

DNF at 25%. Love the premise - Carly and Max meet after they are accidentally returned each other’s dogs from the dogwalker. However at 25% through I am not feeling any connection between them. I think the dogs are cute but was looking for more romance between the people. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free review copy.

I requested this book because hello, a meet cute through a dog mix-up? Sign me up! The hero and heroine share a dog walker and one day, their dogs, both basset hounds, are switched. Carly ends up with Max's hyper dog and Max ends up with Carly's sad dog.

This book actually started off on a less than stable note and I was not sure if it would work for me. The prose has a strong romantic comedy tone that is rambly and chaotic in a stream of consciousness way. Carly was especially stuck way too deep inside her head; there was too much internal dialogue that came across as rambly for Carly and sciencey for Max. But I'm glad I stuck with the book because the writing improved as I continued reading. A couple of chapters in, the prose becomes less rambly and the focus is narrowed to dialogues and plot development. I can understand why some readers might not be patient with the writing style and if that's the only thing bugging you, my recommendation is to stick with it.

One early reviewer wrote that this book was an insta-love and I beg to differ. This is actually a friends to lovers romance, with a fairly low level of angst. There are sparks of attraction when they first meet, but there is no insta-love. Max and Carly don't exactly get off on the right foot because of the dog mix-up, but they become friends and start meeting up for cute dog dates. Their dynamic is adorable; they're both such cute weirdos lol. Carly and Max snuck up on me and I'm enamored of them. I also really like how the author spent time fleshing out Max's job as a neuroscientist and Carly's job as a publicist. I was very invested in their career paths and I think the author did a great job writing their careers in way that is interesting and brings a lot of depth to their character arcs. Max's part of the story can be a little too sciencey, but it was easy enough for me actually understand the kind of research he's working on. Carly's part of the story can be frustrating because she does not exactly have the best clients, but you can't help but root for her success. And as for reviewers calling Carly a doormat...again, I beg to differ. I don't see Carly as a doormat; I see her as a person who is desperate to not lose her clients, her only source of income.

My least favourite part about this book is the family drama. I love Max's family, but I had a really hard time liking Carly's family. These two families converged in a really dramatic and predictable way and I was not a fan of the so-called family conflict. It was annoying and not really necessary, to be honest. But everything else was great: the dogs, Max, Carly, their romance, and their individual careers. I'm so glad I stuck with this book because I ended up loving it!

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley. All opinions are my own. You Lucky Dog by Julia London is a captivating romp of a book to read that had me both laughing out loud and looking for my box of kleenex. Carly Kennedy is a publicist who’s clients are going to drive her out of her mind. She’s been trying to find a way to get her life back on track and move to New York. That things are not going well is an understatement. Max Sheffington is a university professor on the tenure track, he’d thought this would be his year but recently found out he's got serious competition from another professor. They meet when the dog walker they hired is arrested and their dogs are accidentally switched. This a funny and charming story about meeting the right person at the wrong time and as always Julia London writes a book that will have you hoping for their HEA even when it seems everything is lost. I enjoyed it very much and highly recommend reading it not only are Carly and Max delightful so are their dogs Hazel and Baxter.
Medium Steam. Publishing Date: August 25, 2020. #YouLuckyDog #JuliaLondon #ContemporaryRomance #EscapeRead #NetGalley #BerkleyPublishingGroup #bookstagram

The meet cute and relationship build up of Carly and Max was excellent with plenty of heart warming moments and witty dialogue centered around two dogs. The relationship didn’t have much to go on the second half but the author kept the story interesting with some family and workplace drama. I saw some things coming but wasn’t sure how it would work out. Another solid romance from Berkley Publishing. Thank you to the publisher for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was given an ARC of "You Lucky Dog" by Julia London through Berkley Publishing to provide an honest review. *This review may contain Spoilers. *

" You Lucky Dog" is a contemporary book by Julia London. It is about a college professor named Max and a publicist named Carly. Max's life is pretty steady. He has a great job and is trying to get a tenure spot at his university with his research, and Carly is a publicist, with only 2 (soon only 1) difficult clients trying to make it on her own and build up her new business. Max and Carly each have basset hounds. Carly's dog is Baxter, and Max's dog is Hazel. Through a series of unfortunate events, their dog walker is put in jail for selling weed, and the dogs get mixed up with the wrong owner because they look so much alike. Carly ends up figuring out that her dog is the wrong one, and goes to find Max to swap the dogs. Max is a professor, and he uses dogs to study how brains work through people with autism. He is researching this because his brother, Jamie, is autistic. Max's dad needs a break from being a full time caregiver to Jamie, so Max decides to take Jamie on a trip to a dog show one weekend so that his dad can go on a much needed fishing trip. The problem with this, however, is that he doesn't have anyone who can take care of the dog, so he decides to ask Carly. Carly agrees, and what happens next is pure chaos, and hilarity ensues.
I laughed out loud when I read this book at the antics the dogs did when they were reunited. I found the chaos to be completely relatable, especially if you've ever had a mischievous pet. The main characters Carly and Max have great chemistry in this book. I could relate with Carly a lot when it came to her personal life. She is a strong woman trying to make a new start in life, and she's doing everything she can to work hard and make everyone around her happy. She's so busy trying to keep her head above water to pay her bills and get ahead, that she's missing the opportunity for love and to meet new people or spend time with her friends. Basically, for her, there's not enough time in the day, and I'm sure we can all relate to that in our own busy lives. When she finally slows down a little, she realizes she doesn't have to "people please" so much, and realizes she has value and worth. (You'll see what I mean when you read about one of her particular clients.) I also think it's refreshing that the main male character in this book (Max) can be considered both alpha male/nerdy scientist guy. What I mean by that, is that normally in the romance world, at least in my opinion, the male character is all "brawn" and take charge or rich and not relatable. In this situation, Max proves that you can be smart, attractive, nerdy etc all rolled up into one. I really liked that aspect of his character. It made him seem more down-to-earth and more relatable to me. All in all, I loved this book. I would definitely recommend it to anyone, even my own husband or dad to read. "You Lucky Dog" had a lot of heart, fire, and soul, and I think Julia London hit it out of the park with this one. I can't wait to see what she does next.

You Lucky Dog was most definitely a case of cover love! I'm a sucker for any romance with dogs and the premise of an accidental dog switch had me hook line and sinker!! Unfortunately it fell flat for me in the romance department. There was a lot of internal dialogue and day to day info. I also think there was a bit too many side plots happening that made the relationship between Max and Carly suffer. The dogs, Baxter and Hazel, were a saving grace for this book. And I adored Max's relationship with his brother, Jamie. Still a sweet story that fans of dogs and contemporary romance may enjoy!

Any cover with two adorable dogs on it will always draw my interest and Baxter and Hazel more than live up to their cuteness. In fact, they pretty much steal every scene they're in. It's clear the author has a great love for, and experience with, dogs. They're the catalyst that brings Max and Carly together and keeps their relationship moving forward. By the end of the book, I wanted to adopt both of them. Some of the other characters, not so much.

Carly and Max are both likable characters - okay, Carly is pretty annoying at the beginning but she grows into her likability - and though they may seem an unlikely pair at first, London deftly guides them along the path to eventual friendship with the potential for more. It's a sweet, low-key romantic journey, with a happy ending, but, as this is a romantic comedy, not a contemporary romance, it takes a bit of a back seat to everything else going on in their lives, especially Carly's. Both are at turning points in their careers, with Max on a tenure track at the university and Carly trying to salvage her sagging PR business while keeping her dreams of a New York career alive (she has two clients, neither of which is doing anything to help further those goals). A great deal of the story focuses on Carly's clients and career. Then there are the families.

Honestly, I don't blame Carly for wanting to move to New York. With her family, I'd be setting my sights much further. Like, maybe Australia. As for Max's family, I felt London did a credible job of portraying an adult character with Autism (Max's brother) and both the joys and challenges of living with a person with special needs. I liked Max's father and brother a whole lot more than anyone in Carly's family, especially her mother. Carly's sister may have been annoying but I couldn't find one single redeeming quality in her mother. And I looked really hard.

Overall, I enjoyed Carly's journey and was happy with the decisions she made, as well as how they came about. The author could have taken an easier path with her but it wouldn't have felt as authentic to her character. Because of that, I was confident she would move forward with no regrets and that her relationship with Max would be stronger because of it. I liked Max's nerdy sweetness and how he and Carly balance one another. I liked his relationship with his brother and his determination to support, encourage, and protect those he loves. And I absolutely adored the dogs.

*ARC received for fair and unbiased review

Julia London’s latest novel, You Lucky Dog, is the perfect choice if you’re looking for a light read filled with dogs, a little romance (including the sweetest meet-cute), and some hilarious dysfunctional family fun. The story follows Carly and Max, who meet when their beloved basset hounds are accidentally swapped in an incident involving a pot-selling dog walker and an ill-timed encounter with the police. Although their initial meeting is somewhat awkward because of the circumstances, two things become clear right away: 1) Their dogs, Baxter and Hazel, clearly adore each other, and 2) Carly and Max are attracted to one another as well.

The timing couldn’t be worse for either of them though. Carly is an up and coming publicist who is desperately trying to build her brand and grow her clientele, while Max is a professor of neurology at the local university who is working hard in hopes of achieving tenure this year. Carly is also dealing with her dysfunctional divorced parents, while Max has his hands full helping his dad care for his brother, Jamie, who has autism. Even with all of those obstacles in their path, however, after a couple of doggie play dates, Max and Carly can’t deny their attraction any longer and hope they can figure out a way to make things work even though it feels like the deck is stacked against them.

*****

I really loved both main characters in You Lucky Dog. Carly definitely has her hands full with some pretty quirky and moody clients, but I admired her persistence and determination as she continued to push to make things happen for herself. Max is literally the sweetest guy and in addition to loving the way he cares for his dog (and for Carly’s), I also adored the scenes with Max and his brother. Max is such a good brother to Jamie and it just warmed my heart to watch the two of them together. I also, of course, adored Carly and Max together. At first I was hesitant because it felt a little like insta-love but seriously how can you not bond while watching your adorable basset hounds frolic in the park together? Scenes like that sold me on their growing chemistry pretty quickly and I was rooting for them to get together, in part because I wanted Baxter and Hazel to have their own happily ever after.

In addition to the cute factor, there’s also a healthy dose of family drama to balance out the reading experience. Carly’s mother is having a sexual reawakening, which is downright hilarious at times until her awakening actually threatens Carly and Max’s relationship and lends an almost star-crossed lovers vibe to the story. Don’t let that scare you off if you need a happy ending though. The story is meant to be a rom-com so you know what that means. 😊

If you’re into dogs, meet cutes, and romance, with a side of family drama to keep things interesting, You Lucky Dog is a perfect fit for you.

I have read other titles by Julia, so between her name and that cover, there was no way I was missing this.

Carly and Max are just okay as MCs. They’re both hard working and devoted to their dogs. Unfortunately, that’s the best thing I can say about them. There’s no connection or chemistry and I didn’t care about their relationship. Carly’s family is straight up insane, while Max’s family seems more loving.

Plot wise, I don’t even know. There are a lot of moving pieces and plot lines (and random details) that didn’t seem necessary. And then to throw in the situation at the 90% mark? Sure, I didn’t see it coming, but it was somewhat infuriating and in turn made the ending and epilogue feel rushed.

Overall, Hazel and Baxter are what kept me reading. Because dogs. I could have easily set this book down, never continued and been fine with not knowing the outcome.

**Huge thanks to Berkley Romance for providing the arc free of charge**

You Lucky Dog
Rating: 3 stars
Thank you to the author/publisher for the ARC given through NetGalley for review. All opinions are my own.

You Lucky Dog had the cutest pair of basset hounds who stole every scene and brought so much joy and love to our two main characters, Max and Carly. Max and Carly are brought together when their dog walker is taken to jail for dealing drugs and the person who was tasked with returning the dogs to their owners makes the mistake of giving Max and Carly the wrong dog. They are immediately attracted to each other in a very cute and dorky way. They both admit that they are not good at talking to the opposite sex and get all tongue tied and nervous.
The relationship between them was very sweet. They were surrounded by so much stress and drama from their families and work that those moments they were together with their dogs is when they found peace with each other. Carly's family was a little too much. The only family member I liked was Max's brother, Jamie.
Overall, it was a good story, but I felt that at times Max and Carly's story was lost with all that was happening around them.

Nick and Charlotte’s story is a humorous tale of a mix-up with unexpected consequences in You Lucky Dog by Julia London. Carly Kennedy is already living a crazy, out of control life so when she comes home to find the dog walker switched out her depressed basset hound, Baxter, for a much perkier and friendlier one, she has definitely reached the end of her leash. Max Sheffington is bewildered when he finds a depressed male basset hound instead of his happy Hazel. After a long, chasing tail search, Carly discovers where her poor Baxter was left. When Max finds Carly on his doorstep he was surprised, expecting the dog walker, not a pretty woman with strange ideas about dog training. Carly was not expecting the handsome, bespectacled man to be feeding her dog mac and cheese or being allowed on the couch. The problem is that Baxter is head over heels happy with Hazel, and Carly realizes she may have found the key to her puppy’s happiness. For Baxter’s sake, she starts to spend more time with Hazel and Max, until she begins to understand the appeal of falling for your polar opposite.

Ms. London wrote a wonderful, emotional, humorous story that is not to be missed. She provided a tale rich with sizzling chemistry, humorous banter, lots of laughs, and charming secondary characters, besides the dogs, giving Carly and Max a chance at love as well as a future together. I highly recommend You Lucky Dog to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

You know when people are so different but there’s just something there that makes them compliment each other? That’s Carly and Max. The perfect match that doesn’t match. They meet when they have a dog mix up and the attraction between them sizzles. Throw in some dog mayhem, work chaos and family drama and I’m reading this story through the night. I literally laughed one minute and cried the next. Loved this book!

Honestly, this book was filled with too much information that is unnecessary for its progression. I felt that the heroine and hero were separated too often for their relationship to be as strong as it was, it didn’t add up. And I wasn’t connecting to the characters and didn’t connect to the novel. There were some moments that saved this read, but not enough.

Give me a book with sweet romance, cute pups and some humor and I'm all in. You Lucky Dog is the perfect summer, light read that will have you cheering on these this couple, Carly and Max and their totally opposite basset hounds. This is the first book, I've read from this author and now a fan. Her writing style sucks you into their story and brings life to these characters!

I hate Carly. She is just an awful character. Uptight, conceited, and completely full of herself. I have to wonder if the author wasn’t channeling a Kardashian as she wrote the character. And there is no place for Carly to be that conceited, she grew up in Small Town, U.S.A., not Beverly Hills.
Nate was just ok. Though I will implore authors once again to reconsider having the first impression of the male lead being him shagging someone else. It’s an immediate downgrade in likeability.
I have no idea why Nate held onto Carly for so long. I didn’t feel an all-consuming love between them, no soul mates happening there.
The stuff with their parents, what was that?! And was it really necessary?
The best part of the book was Jamie and the dogs. Dogs will always save the day.

Julia London’s You Lucky Dog is funny, sweet and charming, but gets a couple of points dinked off for the author’s preference for outside conflict versus internal conflict in the romance.

It’s a tough day in Austin, Texas. The arrest of a dog walker in an undercover drug sting has resulted in two seemingly identical basset hounds being swapped during their return ride home.

The pup’s owners are immediately suspicious of the circumstances in which they find themselves. Advertising PR person Carly Kennedy knows her foster dog, Baxter, like the back of her hand.  The depressed hound is a moper and this high-energy girl is unmistakably Not Him. Carly is under pressure at work and is preparing to move to New York as soon as she has the opportunity, and she’s stressed enough as it is. She does Not Need This.

Across town, neuroscience professor Doctor Max Sheffington is equally confused to discover his high-energy basset, Hazel, has been replaced by Baxter. Fortunately, Carly has Hazel’s chip scanned at the vet’s and brings his dog back to him, their stoner dog walker being of no help to either of them.

They have very differing ideas of discipline. Max is laid back with Hazel, a contrast to his highly controlled behavior as tenure track professor and how responsible he is with his brother, Jamie, who is on the autism spectrum and is currently dependent upon their feckless father’s care.  High-strung Carly, meanwhile, sticks to rigid routines picked up from books as she tries to wedge Baxter into her busy life. Clearly, they have a lot to learn from one another – and will have the opportunity to continue to do so, because Hazel and Baxter have fallen in love, and will do anything to be together.

You Lucky Dog is a delightful story, funny and lighthearted in a way that’s perfectly refreshing.  Max is a respite from Carly’s messy family situation – recently divorced parents and a harried, over-stressed sister with a messy family of her own for whom she is (technically) fostering Baxter. Her father is an aggressive blogger with a following who is dating Carly’s (former) dental hygienist, and her mother and Max’s father…well, we’ll get to that.

Max has a touching relationship with his autistic twenty-seven-year-old brother, Jamie, who is working his way toward an independent living situation and for whom Max is considering adopting a therapy dog to help accomplish that end goal. Jamie is a sweetheart and a pretty decent representation for someone mid-range on the spectrum.

It’s family drama instead of interpersonal conflict or even puppy-related shenanigans that defines the third act drama for these two, and that’s where You Lucky Dog turns disappointing.  To make the plot work, Max and Carly’s mom and dad are turned into caricatures of gauche villains, the latter of whom snaps at his autistic son, refuses to help maintain the training of said son’s service dog, and jumps unthinkingly between relationships, leaving Max to pick up the slack. Carly’s mom, meanwhile, is the reckless person who gives her other, overtaxed daughter a high-energy dog. The story’s resolution matches the selfishness of the characters, but their presence is an exhausting time-waster in what is otherwise a great read.

But that’s just one little cloud in an otherwise blue sky.  You Lucky Dog is adorable and well worth reading, in spite of the way the final conflict is played out.

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